Sasha on Michelle

"I won't lie. I love the attention. I love the spotlight,' said Sasha Cohen upon arrival in Turin" for the Olympic Games.

The May issue of Spotlight on Skating just came out, featuring almost 70 pages of in-depth coverage of the Olympics and World Championships, mostly by reporter/feature writer Lynn Rutherford. Here are some excepts from Sasha's news conference, given the day that Michelle announced her withdrawal from the Games.

"No matter what she does, whether she skates or not, Michelle will always be the focus of attention," said Cohen with just the slightest of sighs.

"I just answer whatever questions come my way. The Michelle questions are the hardest.... I have to shift my focus away from other people and onto myself. You can ask me the questions and they bounce right back."...

(Michelle's withdrawal) "kind of humanizes the sport. She's someone who has been an icon, who has always been there. We've seen her hard edge when competing. It proves you can be at the top of the sport and have good and bad times. You have to deal with what life gives you."

Still, Cohen made it clear she did not particularly fear Kwan as a competitor, especially under the ISU judging system.

"Michelle's participation was never an issue for me. For me, it's about my own performance."

"Is (her withdrawal) a relief? No....I placed ahead of Michelle twice at Worlds and under this new system, the emphasis is on quality. The NJS can change the orders quite a bit."

Thanks Math for the really neat comments made by Sasha regarding Michelle. At least now it is in print the genuine regard, respect and admiration that Sasha feels for Michelle. Now I wonder how everyone feels after a 50 page thread on what a snot Sasha was toward Michelle.

Hm, I don't get the impression Sasha has a "genuine regard and admiration" for Michelle at all. Don't get me wrong, I don't think she's bashing Michelle or hates her, and I do think she respects her as a competitor, while realizing Michelle is the "It Girl" in skating as long as she is around. She comes across kinda PC but not real empathy in her statements where Michelle is concerned, and seems annoyed by the Michelle questions/topics (but really, who could blame her? At the biggest competitions of her career-Olympics and Nationals-and the focus is all on MICHELLE.)

Not being a snot? That little barb at the end about quality is Sasha being sweet and admiring? She could have just said that she feels her strengths are more rewarded under COP than Michelle's, but instead to chose to phrase in such a way that implies she has "quality", Michelle does not.

Greatest title of a thread ever, thanks MM. I didn't know what to think at first, in a fight, getting on her case or "what?"

I do think they were fairly respectful comments for a person who gets the invitation to do an interview and half of it turns into a discussion about someone else. I think she did hold back her true feelings, which is pretty impressive.

I do like julietvalcouer's comment of bring on Kimmie though But still hope SC performs well in the future - keeps some heat and turns in 3 clean. Maybe some day she'll just let it out, "did you want an interview with MK, or what. If I am in the wrong place please tell me. I thought this was going to be on my skating. Otherwise just make your assumptions as usual and leave me the *BEEP* alone. Thank you good night"

... Maybe some day she'll just let it out, "did you want an interview with MK, or what. If I am in the wrong place please tell me. I thought this was going to be on my skating. Otherwise just make your assumptions as usual and leave me the *BEEP* alone. Thank you good night"

If Sasha did say such a thing, I think it is highly likely to inspire a "Sasha Is Copying Johnny Weir's Honesty" thread. How many posts do you think such a thread would inspire?

I think that's a particularly candid response from her. Still, she should just say outright that she's tired of all the MK questions. At least she admitted she loves attention- and hence why she must feel just a LITTLE BIT frustrated that Kwan gets all the attention all the time (and she doesn't even have to BE there!)

First, I'm a huge Kwan fan and not especially a Cohen fan. But, I feel sorry for Cohen when she ends up having to talk about Kwan, give her a break already having to spend so much time talking about a competitor must be a major drag.

She gets huge respect from me for not snapping at a reporter: "HEY! If you're interviewing ME then ask questions about ME!!!" (which is what I'd be really tempted to do in her place).

She's been respectful and sportsmanlike enough for a long time now, let's give her a break and stop the micro-analysis searching for offense already.